Permanent Toenail Removal- the final solution for toebang?

Rparr

Rparr

Active member
Hello Dr. NS

I've been told that you can have a toenail permanently removed so that it can't grow back again. I'm extremely interested in doing so because my big toenail is fucked up for the 4th time now or something and I'm so over this shit.

Have any of you guys done this? Wondering if there would be any downsides to not having a big toenail, at least for skiing. I can't think of any
 
Several options:

-cut your toe nails more frequently like a civilized great ape

-get your toe box punched out

-get better fitting boots

All of those will be cheaper, less painful, and easier than any surgery ?
 
14438259:ReturnToMonkey said:
Several options:

-cut your toe nails more frequently like a civilized great ape

-get your toe box punched out

-get better fitting boots

All of those will be cheaper, less painful, and easier than any surgery ?
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I already keep my nails as short as possible, and these are the best fitting boots I’ve had by far. Can hike rails all day in these without foot pain

I don’t think I can ever stop landing backseat entirely though. I fuck up too many tricks trying new things frequently. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes once is enough

im unconcerned about the cost or the pain of the surgery. I’m going to see a foot doc when I get home and if he can’t give me 1 decent reason not to get rid of it
 
So over the years I have had repeated ingrown toenails on my big toes from ski boots and bad genetics I guess. The last one I had on my left big toe, I opted to have them put acid there (that's what they use to keep it from growing back) and have had no problems ever since. The key to not getting toe bang in my experience is keeping your nails short, having properly fitting and tightened boots with good insoles. If all 3 of those are being done then toe bang shouldn't generally be an issue. Anything is possible but I would start there rather than removing parts of your body haha
 
14438262:Rparr said:
I already keep my nails as short as possible, and these are the best fitting boots I’ve had by far. Can hike rails all day in these without foot pain

I don’t think I can ever stop landing backseat entirely though. I fuck up too many tricks trying new things frequently. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes once is enough

im unconcerned about the cost or the pain of the surgery. I’m going to see a foot doc when I get home and if he can’t give me 1 decent reason not to get rid of it
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Imagine getting toe bang and still thinking your boots fit
 
14438289:Schoess said:
So over the years I have had repeated ingrown toenails on my big toes from ski boots and bad genetics I guess. The last one I had on my left big toe, I opted to have them put acid there (that's what they use to keep it from growing back) and have had no problems ever since. The key to not getting toe bang in my experience is keeping your nails short, having properly fitting and tightened boots with good insoles. If all 3 of those are being done then toe bang shouldn't generally be an issue. Anything is possible but I would start there rather than removing parts of your body haha
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Body mods are so core tho... I know a dude who had both arms removed bc he couldnt keep em by his side.
 
A good fit doesn't magically eliminate the possibility of toebang, it only makes it much less likely.

Don't worry I'll post pics of my frankenstien toe after the nail is permanently removed
 
14438262:Rparr said:
I already keep my nails as short as possible, and these are the best fitting boots I’ve had by far. Can hike rails all day in these without foot pain

I don’t think I can ever stop landing backseat entirely though. I fuck up too many tricks trying new things frequently. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes once is enough

im unconcerned about the cost or the pain of the surgery. I’m going to see a foot doc when I get home and if he can’t give me 1 decent reason not to get rid of it
Click to expand...

from what ive seen they just remove whats left of the nail and cauterize the nail bed or whatever so it doesnt grow back, probably takes like 15-20 minutes including numbing it up and everything. Its mostly done for old people that have trouble self caring for ingrown nails

**This post was edited on May 20th 2022 at 10:55:03am
 
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Dealt with it for years from hockey skates, bike shoes, climbing shoes and ski boots were always the worst. Would be a yearly cycle of going black - either falling off or getting them professionally removed; they grow back and become ingrown and super sensitive[at which point the going black and falling off is almost a relief].

After almost 10 years of that cycle I finally had them removed permanently before this season - should have done it years ago. They numb your toes, remove the nail and 'cauterize' the root so they don't grow back. They were almost completely healed over after about 4 weeks and I've had zero pain or issues. AND they look 1000x better than fucked up toe nails. [wifey approved]

Go for it, they looked fucked for a week or two after surgery but once they heal you'll wish you did it sooner.
 
Just blasted my fucking big toe skating the other day, been draining blood from it daily. Praying it doesn’t blow totally open before the fridge, would greatly prefer to not ski with it fucked
 
14438414:s_double_ said:
Dealt with it for years from hockey skates, bike shoes, climbing shoes and ski boots were always the worst. Would be a yearly cycle of going black - either falling off or getting them professionally removed; they grow back and become ingrown and super sensitive[at which point the going black and falling off is almost a relief].

After almost 10 years of that cycle I finally had them removed permanently before this season - should have done it years ago. They numb your toes, remove the nail and 'cauterize' the root so they don't grow back. They were almost completely healed over after about 4 weeks and I've had zero pain or issues. AND they look 1000x better than fucked up toe nails. [wifey approved]

Go for it, they looked fucked for a week or two after surgery but once they heal you'll wish you did it sooner.
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Thank you for the insight, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I’ve got an appointment in about a month, definitely looking forward to getting this over with
 
14438428:rojo.grande said:
Just blasted my fucking big toe skating the other day, been draining blood from it daily. Praying it doesn’t blow totally open before the fridge, would greatly prefer to not ski with it fucked
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It usually takes multiple months from when it was bruised until it falls off, you should be good if you don't make the bruising any worse between now and fridge
 
14438488:Rparr said:
Thank you for the insight, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I’ve got an appointment in about a month, definitely looking forward to getting this over with
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You're gonna be so relieved. My only regret is not doing it sooner. I used to search forums looking for something/someone to tell me to just do it and get it over with. I'll admit - the first couple weeks, removing the bandages I would be like "wtf did i do" but they heal and life is simply better. You'll be happy you did
 
14438362:Rparr said:
A good fit doesn't magically eliminate the possibility of toebang, it only makes it much less likely.

Don't worry I'll post pics of my frankenstien toe after the nail is permanently removed
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Feel free to pm me a couple more;)
 
14446511:Pattolan said:
Did you explain you’re getting it done because of ski boot problems??
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yup I'm far from the first skier he's done this procedure for. Can't wait to be impervious to toebang
 
This is so bad ass I wish I had the balls to be core enough for body mods. Maybe one day. Glad you are going through with it.
 
Got through a whole season cutting my toenails once a month and hiking rails daily with my toes scrunched up in my 3 year old boots. There's something magical about boots that feel good
 
In my experience people think it's a length of boot/toe issue but it may not be, it could be a slight height issue in the toebox.

I've had a hard time explaining it but here goes. Sitting there in your bare feet, squeeze your big toe down on the nail using your fingers like a vice grip. Squeeze REALLY hard. If that pain roughly feels equivalent to what you feel when you bang your toes, then it may be height issue in the toebox.

If that's what it is, then all the filling and trimming may help a tiny bit but doesn't really help. If that's how you feel consider describing that to a bootfitter.

Most boot fitters can scrape/carve a bit of plastic to give you a little more height. That usually does it for me. I describe it as "please ream out top of toe box on big toe only to add a little more height up"
 
I have a wicked painful ingrown that's grown back 3 times now after getting it cut down / partially removed by a doc. I literally called it growing back again when they said they wouldn't be treating the root / problem area after the last visit. Pretty irked about that one.

Considering performing this procedure on myself with some vice grips at this point, unless there's an easier way to kill your nail off to have it grow back fresh.
 
14448162:jimbobs said:
I have a wicked painful ingrown that's grown back 3 times now after getting it cut down / partially removed by a doc. I literally called it growing back again when they said they wouldn't be treating the root / problem area after the last visit. Pretty irked about that one.

Considering performing this procedure on myself with some vice grips at this point, unless there's an easier way to kill your nail off to have it grow back fresh.
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I’d advise against this, you need acid to chemically treat the root to prevent it from growing back. Doing it yourself will have a risk of infection, and a lot of pain. It’s a really simple, common procedure. If your doc isn’t willing to do it, find another podiatrist. Most of them would be very willing to do this
 
14448170:Rparr said:
I’d advise against this, you need acid to chemically treat the root to prevent it from growing back. Doing it yourself will have a risk of infection, and a lot of pain. It’s a really simple, common procedure. If your doc isn’t willing to do it, find another podiatrist. Most of them would be very willing to do this
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Yeah, I'm very aware it's a bad idea, and probably won't do anything of the sort, but good lord I want to so badly. Thing has been nothing but problems for over a year now. Going to be super upfront with the doc next time and tell them I seriously need the whole nine yards, acid and all. Nicely, of course, but make sure they understand I'm serious.
 
I had this done about 15 years ago, it was for other issues unrelated to toe bang from skiing, went through all the proper channels with a pediatrist and he used the acid to permanently kill the nail bed. The procedure worked fine and to this day, I do not have toe nails on either of my big toes. I will caution you though, having no nail led to other problems for me including permanent nerve damage in my toes. The nail is there to protect the nerves in your toes/feet so when that is no longer there, the toe is susceptible to other damage. My recommendation would be to get properly fitted boots before going this route.
 
14448198:kbrando said:
I had this done about 15 years ago, it was for other issues unrelated to toe bang from skiing, went through all the proper channels with a pediatrist and he used the acid to permanently kill the nail bed. The procedure worked fine and to this day, I do not have toe nails on either of my big toes. I will caution you though, having no nail led to other problems for me including permanent nerve damage in my toes. The nail is there to protect the nerves in your toes/feet so when that is no longer there, the toe is susceptible to other damage. My recommendation would be to get properly fitted boots before going this route.
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Damn I had never considered this tbh. My doc made no mention of it either. Giving me some serious second thoughts, I don’t think I’d like to have nerve pain at the young age if 28

My boots fit very well, I think the majority of my toebang incidents come from times where my boots are loose. Usually I start out with my boots loose, and tighten them over the course of the first couple runs of the day. Sometimes I’m not very diligent about doing this, I think that’s where my toebang comes from
 
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